There’s new life for the Fab Four

Martin prepping Beatles music for Cirque du Soleil

Beatles producer George Martin has been digging through the vaults of unreleased Fab Four recordings to create not only the soundscape for the next Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas, but also a new Beatles album.

Details remain sketchy, but Martin and son Giles have spent the past two years working at Abbey Road Studios, constructing the music for the show, which is expected to evolve into a show album.

“It involves the creation, by the remixing and remastering of the Beatles’ recorded performances, of completely new music, which will be featured in the show,” said Apple chief Neil Aspinall during the recent Apple Corps vs. Apple Computer lawsuit. “(That) should lead to the release of the show album.”

Apple expects to make an announcement soon concerning an album related to the Cirque show, which is slated to open this summer at the Mirage. Cirque, which last made an announcement regarding the show in October 2004, has released no details of the opening or the show’s contents.

Overseen by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the material will be in the show and appear on the show album, which would be an Apple Records release.

“Our mission was to try and achieve the same intimacy we get when listening to the master tapes at Abbey Road,” Giles Martin said in a statement. “I think we will achieve a real sense of drama with the music; the audience will feel as though they are actually in the room with the band.”

The Beatles last opened their vaults in 1995 and ’96 for the release of three “Anthology” sets.